“She woke up from a nightmare,” Finn said. “I was on the couch and heard her crying. I went in and laid down with her and she slept the entire night after that.”
“You got into bed with her?” James asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Nothing happened,” Finn said.
“I should hope not,” James replied. “Putting the moves on a woman who just lost everything in a fire wouldn’t be very … gallant.”
“No,” Finn agreed.
“She seems to be warming up to you,” James hedged. “That must make you happy.”
“I don’t know how to feel,” Finn said. “Every time she takes a step toward me, it’s almost like she takes two steps back to check herself before getting too close.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Be patient,” Finn said. “There’s nothing else I can do.”
“Yeah, you’re good with the patience thing,” James said. “Grady and I like to force the issue. Emma clearly needs someone to be patient.”
Finn kept his eyes trained on the floor below. “That’s why I’m going to be patient.”
MANDY loved The Body Shop. The bag she was carrying as she left the store was a testament to that. James would probably freak when he saw the size of the tote – but if she used the lotion to give him a good rubdown later, she had a feeling those complaints would disappear.
Emma had enjoyed the shopping experience, too. Never having been in the store before, it was like Christmas in February. Her bag was smaller – much smaller – but she’d enjoyed sampling the plethora of offerings.
Emma glanced around as they left The Body Shop. “Where do you think James and Finn are?”
“Sitting on a bench pretending they hate the mall,” Mandy replied.
“I don’t think James is pretending.”
“He’ll live.”
“You two seem … better today.”
“It was a rough night for both of us,” Mandy said. “I should have thought about what I was doing before I did it – not that I’m not happy I grabbed the photograph for you. To be fair, it wouldn’t have been a big deal if the power hadn’t gone out just when I was trying to find my way back to the window. No offense, but getting the photo wasn’t worth doing what I did to him.”
“No offense taken,” Emma said. “I understand.”
“I need to take his feelings into consideration a little more often than I do,” Mandy said. “I wouldn’t hurt him for anything, and last night I almost crushed him.”
“You’ll do better next time,” Emma said. “Just tell him you love him, and dress up in that coconut bra. He seemed to like that idea.”
“He likes every idea that ends with me getting naked,” Mandy scoffed, jerking forward as someone bumped into her from behind. “Hey!”
Emma took a step back as the figure pushed Mandy out of his way and advanced on her. She couldn’t make out any features, he was wearing a hoodie. Emma was frozen in fear.
For her part, Mandy was enraged. “Really? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Mandy slammed her foot down into the crook of the man’s knee, bringing him down to the ground. Hard. She then slammed her foot into his ass, knocking him flat, where she proceeded to grab his arm, twist it behind his back, and lodge herself on top of him with her knee in the small of his back.
Emma was stunned by her actions.
The Mandy did something really surprising. She opened her mouth and yelled.
“James!”
JAMES heard her voice, but he couldn’t find her face. When he finally caught sight of her, his heart was hammering so hard he thought he might pass out. She was sitting on top of a man, his arm lodged at an odd angle behind his back, looking around for help.
James gripped the bags in his hands and rushed toward the escalator. How did she always find trouble? It’s like she was a magnet – and every deadbeat loser in the area was drawn to her.
When James hit the main floor of the mall, he pushed through the crowd congregating around his feisty blonde. He dropped the bags next to Emma’s feet and turned, hands on hips, so he could fix Mandy with an outraged look. “How does this keep happening?”
“Hey, I called for you right away,” Mandy said. “I did what I was supposed to do.”
“Did you call for me before or after you wrestled him to the ground?”
“He was going after Emma,” Mandy replied. “I just reacted. If it’s any consolation, I used the moves you taught me when I was in middle school in case any of my dates got fresh.”